Chapter 12—Our God Delivers
He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; he will crush the oppressor.—Psalms 72:4
But this is what the LORD says: "Yes, captives will be taken from warriors, and plunder retrieved from the fierce; I will contend with those who contend with you, and your children I will save.—Isaiah 49:25
Believe it or not there's hope
Believe it or not there's hope
Based on the truth ignorance is no excuse
There is hope
-Hope, Manic Drive
"You're lost, aren't you." Espio was making a statement, not asking a question, which only served to make Vector Crocodile that much more defensive.
"We are not lost," he insisted. "I know exactly where we are."
Espio merely shook his head, not pressing his line of reasoning, but still convinced they were completely and hopelessly lost in the woods with no idea where they were or where they were going. He'd have left, except the Spirit had made it clear that he was supposed to follow the crocodile, for some reason that Espio couldn't fathom. But the Chameleon had learned that he didn't need to understand the Spirit's reasoning in order to obey Him.
Didn't mean he couldn't wonder what the point of all this was. Because apparently, the crocodile he was following was in turn following a six-year-old, who was wandering around with a glazed, lost expression on his fact that made it clear he had no idea where he was or where he was going.
Long story short: They were lost.
Even Vector, for all his fevered insistence that they weren't lost and he did know what he was doing, and what he was doing was a good idea, was starting to have doubts as to the wisdom of their current leadership arrangement. "Kid, you do remember where they had ya, right?"
"Um…" Charmy paused and looked around thoughtfully. "Well, I think so…but last time it was raining and everything was wet…" he pondered this truth for a moment, and his eyes lit up as he got a brilliant idea. "Maybe you guys could pour water on my head, so it'll be like it's raining and I can remember better."
Vector groaned loudly and buried his head in his hands, while Espio tried his hardest not to burst out laughing. Once he was certain he could control himself, he asked Vector mildly, "Do you need any help?"
"No!" Vector snapped, his pride refusing to admit that he needed anything starting with h, ending with p, with an el in the middle. "I've got this. Why don't you go…break rocks with your head or whatever it is you ninjas do."
Espio raised his eyebrow at the request, but he kept his tongue, allowing Vector to fall into a semi-depressive brood as he tried to figure out a plan B.
Charmy, meanwhile, couldn't fathom why they weren't still moving. The woods couldn't last forever, and he saw absolutely no problem with the idea of wandering around randomly and hoping they stumbled upon the place they wanted to be. After all, that's more or less what he'd done when he escaped, and look how well that turned out!
Nevertheless, he couldn't very well wander off without his adult buddies, so the bee sighed and waited for them to do…whatever it was they were doing. It looked like Vector was just standing there with this weird, scrunched up face while Espio tried to act like a serious grown up who did nothing but be serious.
He supposed grownups found such behavior to be fun, but to him it was just boring. He sighed loudly and looked around for something to occupy him while his buddies acted boring. There was a glint on the ground, as if the sun was reflecting something metal. Understandably curious, Charmy made his way over to it and checked it critically. It was a small, curved, fishing hook, lying on the ground. "Cool," Charmy said, picking the fishhook up. "Hey guys! Lookit what I found!"
"Not now Charmy," Vector said absently. He was now pacing back and forth, trying to think. Espio was watching him move with barely repressed amusement clouding his features.
"Lookit, guys! Lookit, lookit, lookit, lookit, lookit!" Charmy insisted with the typical logic of a child wanting one to give his attention to something important, namely, blurring the all important words 'look' and 'it' together so they seemed to be one, then repeating said words annoyingly until they granted his request.
"Charmy…" Vector growled.
"Lookit! Lookit! Lookit! Lookit!" Charmy continued, not even pausing to draw breath.
"Alright!" Vector snapped, glaring at Charmy as his left eye twitched slightly. "I'm lookiting!"
Pleased that he had his buddy's attention, Charmy held the fishhook up eagerly. "Look what I found."
"It's a hook," Vector all but growled. "You interrupted my planning for a hook?"
"Yep!" Charmy said happily, wondering why Vector's face was turning that funny shade of purple.
Vector closed his eyes, counted to fifty, then opened his mouth to chew the young bee out, when suddenly, the hook that Charmy was holding was suddenly yanked through the air. Since Charmy was holding said hook, this invariably meant he was yanked with it.
"AHHHH!" Charmy screamed as he was pulled through the sky to who knows where.
"Charmy!" Vector and Espio both yelped at the same time, taking off after the poor bee.
Sally Acorn and Ray the Flying Squirrel had thought they were prepared for any form of escape attempt that Robotnik could ever possibly think to use against them. They soon found that this assumption was false.
Although, to be fair, neither of them had figured on Shadow the Hedgehog appearing and trying to convince them to simply let the traitor go. Proving that he was a traitor too and that it was their duty to defeat or destroy him as well. At least, that's what Sally was telling herself as she and Shadow crossed blades while Ray kept his own weapon on Robotnik, who was doing a pretty good job of looking completely bewildered at the whole situation.
"Sally, you have to listen to me!" Shadow pleaded, his fighting purely defensive. "Turtle's the deceiver, not Robotnik!"
Neither Sally nor Ray seemed particularly inclined to believe Shadow; but Robotnik's eyes widened almost imperceptivity at the news and he clenched his teeth, his grip on his horse tightening in righteous fury.
"I should have known you were involved in this," Sally snapped as she thrust her blade towards Shadow's chest. He parried the blow, but it forced him slightly off-balance, and she quickly pressed her newfound advantage. "You did an excellent job of pretending to change your loyalties."
"What are you talking about?" Shadow growled.
"You know what I'm talking about," Sally replied, not knowing or not caring that her words were cutting Shadow much worse than any blade ever could. "Deception is the specialty of all those who willingly serve the dragon, and you are no exception!"
For a second, Shadow froze, his eyes widening, filling with pain and hurt at the reference to the past he was ashamed to admit was his. But it disappeared in an instant, replaced by blinding anger. "How dare you!" he snarled, attacking aggressively instead of defensively for the first time in the fight.
Sally stumbled back a bit at the onslaught, desperately trying to regain the upper hand in the fight, although it was all she could do to deflect Shadow's angry blows.
Ray was completely immersed in the spectacular fight between the two powerhouses in front of him. So much so that he never saw Kintobor move until it was far to late to stop him. Julian's fists connected with his skull, knocking him out before he had time to cry out, and with one fluid, lightning swift movement, Julian had managed to unsheathe his Sword and cut the bonds holding his wrists together, then urged his horse to break into a run, leaving the three other Commanders far behind. He briefly allowed himself to regret being unable to help Shadow, but squashed the emotion behind a veil of determination.
"So," he said to himself as soon as he was sure he had gotten away safely. "Commander Turtle's our traitor, is he? Well, it sounds as if I have some unfinished business with my dear old 'friend.'"
Knuckles felt Antoine's forehead, slightly relieved to find that there was no fever, which seemed to indicate that infection had not set in. That was a bit of good news, at least. Although the Commander had yet to awaken, and even if he did, he was in no condition to stand, let alone fight. A wave of guilt swept over the echidna, as he felt this was his fault entirely. If he had been more faithful, a little stronger, he wouldn't have disobeyed the Spirit in the cave, and therefore he would not have fallen. If he hadn't fallen, Antoine would have gotten out of the cave without any injuries, and right now he would probably be finding and saving his children. If Antoine's offspring died because of him…
"They won't," Knuckles suddenly vowed, to himself and the as-yet still unconscious Antoine. "I'll find them, Antoine. I'll save them. You won't loose them because of me."
The words made Knuckles feel better, if they did nothing for the unconscious coyote he spoke them to. The echidna's only concern now was pretty much how to find the missing children, and afterwards how to launch a one-man rescue…but let's worry about one thing at a time. First he should find them, then he could try developing ulcers over rescuing them once his first goal was accomplished.
Now that he had a plan (sort of) Knuckles decided he'd tarried here long enough. Nothing was going to happen while he sat there and stared at his unconscious friend's face, and he wasn't the type to allow the world to pass by when he had things he wanted to do.
With one final farewell and a hopeful remark about having Antoine's children by his bedside to greet him when he woke up, Knuckles quietly slipped out of Big's house, which the cat had more than happily offered to loan the two for however long they might need it. Although Big's intelligence left much to be desired, he could occasionally make up for that with his kind intentions.
Speaking of Big, Knuckles supposed that he should thank him and ask him to take care of Antoine until he returned. He knew the cat would care for Antoine whether he asked or not, but there were manners to be considered. It wouldn't do to seem rude when the cat was being nothing but hospitable. So Knuckles jogged the short distance to Big's pond in order to inform the cat that he was leaving for a short time.
In the course of his stay in this bizarre world, Knuckles had thought he'd seen so much strangeness that nothing could startle him anymore. He was wrong. The sight of Big the Cat scratching his head in bewilderment while he stared at a little medieval version of Charmy Bee hanging onto his pole's hook politely asking to be let down, was more than enough to startle him.
And if that hadn't done it, the battle cry of Vector Crocodile as he barreled out of the woods with an axe raised to impale poor old bewildered Big certainly would.
Relying on instinct, because his brain was mistakenly assuming that none of this could possibly be happening in the real world, Knuckles quickly stepped in front of the charging crocodile and punched him in the gut so hard that Vector actually dry heaved as he crumpled to the ground and curled in a fetal position, trying to protect his now-throbbing stomach. Knuckles regarded Vector with slight amusement while the crocodile tried to muster enough breath to say insulting things about the echidna's parentage, and noticed that Big must have let Charmy down, because the bee had suddenly shown up, flying just above the downed Vector in little circles while he babbled nonsense that seemed to be questioning whether he was about to die or not. It brought back a lot of memories for the echidna, although he couldn't help but feel that something was missing…
…Ah, there we go. Espio the Chameleon had just made his way out of the brush, and was now standing slightly off to the side with his arms crossed, staring at his companions with barely disguised disapproval. Just like old times.
'The gang's all here,' Knuckles thought, unable to stop the huge grin that crossed his face. Luckily his helmet covered that up; it wouldn't do for people to see Knuckles the Echidna grinning like a loon, now, would it?
Presently, Vector managed to get to his feet, albeit somewhat woozily, and gave Knuckles a glare that would cause lesser men to soil their britches, although Knuckles could care less of it. Espio, apparently deciding that Vector was fine and that he probably deserved that punch anyway, merely turned to Knuckles and nodded his head slowly in greeting.
"And so our paths cross again," he said by way of greeting.
Vector, pointedly ignoring the tears that were still leaking out of his eyes, looked from Espio to Knuckles and back again. "You two know each other?" he asked.
"Somewhat," Espio replied, an evasive way of informing the crocodile it was none of his business.
"We exchanged words was we passed each other on a highway not too long ago," Knuckles explained. "You've changed traveling companions."
"Yes," Espio said evenly.
"We're going to rescue my buddies!" Charmy explained to Knuckles.
"You are?" The echidna asked, more to humor him than for anything else.
"Yup! Me, an' Vector, an' Espio, we're all gonna go get my friends an' take 'em away from that mean old St. John!" Charmy said happily.
The name caused Knuckles to freeze. "St. John? Geoffrey St. John?"
"The very same dipwad everyone knows and loathes," Vector confirmed, wishing to put some distance between him and the guy who'd just punched him in the gut. "Let's get out of here, Charmy."
Knuckles, however, wouldn't let them go without getting some answers. "You're from Myrna?" he asked Charmy. The bee's eyes widened, and he nodded, shockingly at a loss for words. Still pressing for details, Knuckles continued, "Were there two coyote's with you? A boy and a girl, last name D'Coolette?"
"Yes!" Charmy squealed. "Jacques and Belle, they made sure everybody was ok when the bad guys took us away!"
Knuckles was silent for a long while, apparently thinking about something. "I'm coming with you," he finally stated.
"Oh, no you ain't!" Vector rebutted almost instantly. "I've already got one Mr. McTagalong with me, and that's one too many!" He jabbed his thumb back towards Espio to prove his point.
Knuckles merely turned to stare the crocodile down. "I'm going with you," he repeated. "I promised my friend I would rescue his children, and they're being held by St. John."
"We could use all the help we can get," Espio pointed out.
Vector was silent for a long while, then he sighed. "Just stay outta my way, got it?" he conceded, bounding off and letting the others follow as best they might.
It was fairly easy for Kintobor to return to Hesu's training center. If anyone thought it was odd that he had come back so soon after leaving, they didn't speak it. He was more or less ignored as he purposely made his way to Turtle's office, throwing the door open with all the force he could muster.
Tommy Turtle looked up from where he was sitting at his desk, regarding Kintobor with calculated coolness. "Really Commander Kintobor, there are easier ways to get attention other than breaking down other people's doors," he said, his tone deceptively mild.
"Is it true?" Julian asked, his anger barely restrained in his voice. "Did you do it?"
"You'll have to be a bit more specific," Turtle replied dryly.
"Are you the traitor who's spreading the heresy?"
Turtle gave Julian a malevolent grin. "Finally figured it out, did you? Took you long enough."
Julian was temporarily floored. Sure, the evidence had pointed to Turtle, but deep down, he still hadn't been able to accept he was a traitor. Or maybe it was how readily he admitted his guilt; Julian couldn't be sure which of the two gained this reaction. His mind whirling with a million questions, he opened his mouth and blurted out the one that came most readily. "Why?"
"Why? For money, power, prestige. Why else?" Turtle shrugged. "All things Lucifer offers much more readily than the King."
Julian's face contorted with fury. "You snake!" he snarled. "You're a Commander pledged to teach and protect the King's Citizens! How can you betray them like this?"
"With a surprising amount of ease, it turns out," Turtle laughed. "The average King's Citizen is the worst kind of stupid—gullible fools, the whole lot of them! They believe anything spoken to them from a Commander, don't even bother to check with the training manuals or the King's Spirit to see if it's true or not! I could have told them the moon was made of licorice sticks and they would have believed it was a divine word from the King Himself!"
"You won't get the chance to test that theory," Julian vowed, drawing his sword. "Because I intend to cut that lying tongue out of your mouth and toss it into a fire pit where it belongs."
"By all means," Tommy gave Julian a mock bow as he drew his own sword, "you're welcome to try."
"It's a miracle!" Vector said happily from his perch in the bushes where he and his comrades-in-arms were spying on St. John's camp. "We actually found them!"
It actually was only the result of divine intervention that the four had found the campsite with Charmy's questionable directions. They had spent twenty minutes walking around a great big rock until Espio finally informed them that they were simply going in circles. (He would have informed them of this a lot sooner but Vector kept telling him to shut up whenever he opened his mouth.) Charmy had then told them that his friend Mr. Bird had just shown up to lead them, which made Vector question his sanity. Both Espio and Knuckles acted relieved at the mention of the mystical Mr. Bird, though, which made Vector question their sanity, but apparently Charmy's invisible Mr. Bird friend knew more about where they were headed than Charmy did, because here they were.
"Alright," Vector said, still giddy with their unexpected success thus far, "let's go get 'em!"
"Patience," Espio chided him. "Our objective is to rescue the little ones. If you rush in there now, they may kill them before we can get to them."
"Aw man," Vector pouted visibly, then sighed. "So what do you suggest we do?"
"We need a plan," Espio replied.
"We have a plan," Vector pointed out. "Go in there and beat the snot out of the lunkheads, then grab the kiddies and scram!"
"He means we need a plan that would actually work," Knuckles explained.
"Oh, well that's different then."
Espio closed his eyes, thinking intently on their strategy. "Vector and Knuckles, maneuver around to the other side of the camp and show yourselves, but do not fight. Talk to them, keep them distracted, while I sneak in the back way and get the children out safely."
Knuckles nodded. "It might work," he admitted. "But it's risky."
"All of our options are risky," Espio pointed out. "But this one is the safest by far."
"Let's do it," Vector piped in, eager to do something.
"What do I do?" Charmy asked.
The three men exchanged worried glances, none of them particularly wanting to put a six-year-old in the line of fire but uncertain of how best to explain that fact. Finally Vector shrugged and dug a coin out of his pocket, handing it to the bee.
"You uh, stay here and…uh…guard this shiny penny," he explained.
Charmy frowned, the wheels in his head churning at this turn of events. Then he grinned and chirped, "OK!" much to the great relief of his companions.
Shadow wasn't sure how long he and Sally had been fighting each other. He knew it had been a very long time; and that the both of them were showing signs of fatigue. If they kept this up much longer one or the other of them would certainly be injured, or worse, killed. He thought he might have a way to end this, but with the way things had worked out, he wasn't certain if his idea would work.
Behind him, he heard a moan that signified Ray was starting to wake up from the little 'nap' Julian had given him. With Ray in the fight, Shadow wouldn't be able to win it. If he was going to put his plan into motion, it had to be now.
Making a split-second decision, Shadow quickly kicked Sally in her stomach, forcing her to stumble backwards and fall onto the dirt. She was on her feet in an instant, but it was already over.
Shadow had thrown his sword into the dirt and raised his hands over his head.
Sally approached carefully, wary of some sort of trick.
"Don't take my word on this, Sally, and don't trust your carnal judgment. Take this to the King. He will tell you that I speak the truth," Shadow pleaded with her.
Sally set her jaw as she resolutely tied Shadow's forepaws together. "Ray, make sure he can't escape," she told her partner, who quickly moved to comply. Sally looked at Shadow meaningfully. "Then we'll see what the King has to say on this matter."
"What's goin' on?" Belle whispered in her brother's ear. He was the only one of them who still dared to look out of their tent-prison since the orders to kill whoever left had been issued.
"Non suah," Jacques whispered back. "Couple guys jus' came into the camp. One's wearin' King's Armor."
"Means nuthin," Belle replied. "Non wit' all the phoney's 'round here."
"Shh, they're talkin'," Jacques hissed, straining to hear the conversation.
Geoffrey seemed to have recognized one of the men, a crocodile. "Vector! How nice of you to show your lazy carcass. Thought you didn't want my money?"
The crocodile, Vector, shrugged. "Things change, St. John. Money's money, and I ain't got a lot of it nowadays, y'know?"
The skunk grinned roguishly. "I knew your greed would outweigh your morals eventually," he chuckled. "But who's your friend? I can't seem to see you chumming around with King's Citizens, and that's what this one seems to be."
"This is uh…Bob…" Vector managed to stammer out, suddenly seeming unsure of himself. "From a race of uh…white-loving… mole… people. Yeah, that's it exactly! Say hello, Bob."
Bob somehow managed to covey the sense of glaring at Vector even though Jacques couldn't see his face. "My name is not Bob," he growled.
"Ahaha," Vector laughed nervously, stomping on Bob's foot swiftly. "Bob's a few nuts short of a fruitcake, if you get what I mean," he said quickly, tapping the side of his head and winking at St. John. The skunk nodded and winked back at Vector, looking amused.
Bob looked annoyed.
Jacques was intrigued by the whole situation. It was obvious Vector was lying through his teeth, and the young coyote wondered if Geoffrey was smart enough to draw that conclusion. As for Bob (if that was really his name) he was definitely not a mole, and Jacques doubted that any mole people would try to replicate King's Armor, no matter how much they loved the color white.
"Jacques!" Belle's frantic voice caused him to look away from the tent entrance in time to see a long knife being jabbed into the back of their tent and slicing downwards. Instinctively, Jacques stepped in front of the other kids, now standing between them and whoever was trying to get in, although he realized that he had no way to protect any of them.
Finally, whoever it was had made a hole big enough to suit them and the knife disappeared. A second later, a chameleon in King's Armor stuck his head into the makeshift doorway. "Stay quiet," he whispered. "And follow me."
"It's a rescue!" one of the older kids whispered excitedly, and Jacques nodded, scarcely believing it.
"Let's get outta here," he told his friends, helping the younger ones out. He was the last to leave, making sure everyone made it out safely.
Once outside, he glanced over to where the other two newcomers were, realizing they were a distraction to help them escape. The crocodile was really hamming it up, while the other one (Jacques still wasn't sure what he was) was just more or less standing there.
"Yup, and there was Bob, just standing there in the rain looking like a drowned rat, or as much of one as a mole can look, anyway, and holding a candle, trying to light it. For the life of him he couldn't figure out why it didn't work!" Vector was saying, ignoring the unfriendly growls 'Bob' was sending his way.
But it was working, in that none of St John's goons were looking their way. Jacques sighed with relief as he realized that the kids in the front had made it to the safety of the woods. They were almost away.
"Oh, and Bob's a dancer, too. He does the craziest dance!" Vector continued without missing a beat. "Do a little dance for us, Bob."
"I don't dance," his companion hissed.
"Yes you do," Vector insisted. "You love dancing. You're always going on about how everybody looks at you and not something else when you dance."
There was a heavy sigh, and apparently 'Bob' complied with Vector's request, as Jacques heard the guards start laughing at the obviously horrible dancing. No doubt Bob was in the process of repenting for plotting to kill Vector in his heart right about now.
It was right at that moment that the little wolf cub Leeta tripped over her own feet and fell to the ground with a startled cry. Jacques stomach twisted violently as everyone, even Vector and his friend, looked over to where they were escaping.
The chameleon sprang into action first, throwing something onto the ground that caused a black cloud of smoke to emerge between them and the guards. "Run!" he ordered, grabbing up Leeta and sprinting towards the woods, the rest of the kids hot on his heels.
Geoffrey realized what was happening a split second later. He swore as he reached for his sword. "They're after the brats!" he yelled out in warning.
"What now?" 'Bob' asked.
"Plan B," Vector replied. "Hot soup, comin' through!" With that, he sprang forward and punched Geoffrey in the mouth, signaling his buddy to attack as well.
Jacques had made it to the woods at that point with the rest of the kids, and so he never found out how that plan worked out for them.
Both Turtle and Kintobor were masterful swordsmen, but the cramped conditions in Turtle's office gave their fight a whole new level of difficulty. Neither of the two were willing to back down or give an inch to find a more suitable combat location, though, so they simply made due with what they had. Julian struck out with all his strength, only for Tommy to duck under the blow and move in to counterattack. With a swift flick of his wrist, Julian parried his attack and the two were soon fighting in earnest. Both were slightly more cautious in the beginning, each testing to find the other's strengths and weaknesses, but as time went on, the fighting became more and more fierce.
Julian was intent on his opponent, paying no heed to his surroundings—a mistake that he soon paid for, when as he jumped back to avoid a particularly nasty slice, he backed into a chair and tumbled to the floor. Tommy quickly moved to take advantage of the situation, but Julian was a lot quicker than he looked and was back on his feet before Turtle could finish him off. The two were soon back at each other's throats again.
To an outside observer, it would appear as if the two were involved in some sort of elaborate dance. One would attack, the other would retreat. And then the other would attack, and his opponent retreat. Back and forth, while their swords clashed against one another relentlessly.
Julian found a hole in Turtle's defense and took a risk, thrusting his sword and managing to nick Turtle's cheek. Tommy didn't even wince as a thin red line appeared there, still intent on the fight between the two.
Slowly but surely, Tommy started to gain the upper hand. He was younger and in better shape than Julian, and although of the two Julian was the better swordsman, he hadn't the stamina that his rival possessed. He was losing, and they both realized it.
"Do you know what the best part of this is, Kintobor?" Turtle taunted his weary opponent. "I will get the rewards offered for betraying the King—but it will be
"Do you know what the best part of this is, Kintobor?" Turtle taunted his weary opponent. "I will get the rewards offered for betraying the King—but it will be your name that future generations will curse for my wrongdoings!" He laughed wickedly at the thought.
"Whether you kill me or not, you will not win," Julian assured him breathlessly. "Nothing is hidden that will not be shown in the light for all to see!"
"Whatever lets you face death like a man," Tommy chuckled, kicking Kintobor's feet out from under him. Julian fell with an oomph! and Tommy pressed his sword against his neck. "Speaking of dying…"
"Turtle!" Shadow the Hedgehog yelled at the traitor, having reached the fight with Sally and Ray in tow. He stood with his sword in hand, glaring at Tommy.
The momentary distraction was all Julian needed. With one lightning swift motion, he pushed Tommy's sword away and jumped up, bringing the hilt of his own sword against the traitor's temple, knocking him unconscious.
"One thing that you forgot, Turtle," Julian informed the unconscious traitor, "is that those who follow Lucifer are destined to lose."
With that, he sheathed his sword and caught Shadow's eyes, bowing his head slightly to show his thanks, and calmly made his way to his horse as Sally began to bind Turtle. Catching the traitor was a good thing; but Julian had a responsibility to his training center and he had been gone far too long as it was.
"Now this is a fight!" Vector laughed as he swung his battle axe wildly at his opponents, who had given up trying to get anywhere near the obviously insane crocodile and were trying to shoot him from a distance as he charged after them.
"You're crazy!" Knuckles yelled at him, having come to the same conclusion as their opponents as he literally fought for his lift against three guards who were trying their absolute best to gut him at the same time.
Vector just laughed at him and took off, having caught sight of St John in the fray and determined to give him a piece of his mind—and hopefully his battle axe, if the skunk's fighting skills were having an off day.
"ST JOHN!" the crocodile bellowed, not stopping for anyone or anything in his way, merely swinging his axe around to knock or slice his way clear.
Geoffrey turned briefly to get a good look at the crocodile and paled slightly, then darted off towards the tents, presumably to make his escape.
Vector didn't even pause as he took off after him. Of course, this meant he left Knuckles to deal with St. John's twenty-plus goons on his own.
Knuckles fought bravely, although his opinion of Vector wasn't very high at that time. But frankly, his opinion of Vector had never been high. This stunt, however, definitely made his opinion of Vector go down to negative numbers.
As he was thinking this and similar disparaging thoughts pertaining to Vector, he couldn't help but note that he was being overwhelmed. He was good, yes, but even he couldn't stop this many by himself.
He dodged a sword from his left and used his Knuxgloves to block another coming from above his head, when something hard hit the small of his back and he stumbled. Before his opponents could take advantage of this weakness, a small orb hit the ground and a bright flash of light from it caused everyone to flinch back. When the light faded, Espio was standing in front of Knuckles, katana drawn as he faced down their opponents.
Knuckles decided that while he and Vector may never be friends, Espio was a pretty good guy.
"Where are the kids?" Knuckles asked, regaining his feet.
"I left them with Big," Espio replied. "When one actually knows where one is going, it turns out that Big is not more than a five minute hike from here. By the way, your friend is awake, and very pleased to see his children. Big believes he will make a full recovery."
"Thank God," Knuckles muttered to himself as their opponents recovered from their temporary bewilderment. "Any ideas?"
Espio gave him a rare grin and held up three more orbs. "Pepper bombs," he explained, before hurling them into their opponent's faces. Within moments, the majority of their attackers were busy clutching their eyes and screaming, leaving the remainder of the fight to be a relatively easy mopping up of their opponents.
St. John was an idiot if he thought he was going to get away from Vector Crocodile. While the mercenary didn't have many moral issues, there were three rules that could not be crossed.
1. You don't attack unarmed civilians. That makes you a robber, not a mercenary.
2. You don't hurt children under any circumstances.
3. You never, ever, hurt Vector Crocodile's buddies.
And, since Charmy Bee had managed to worm himself onto the very small list of Vector's buddies, that meant that St. John had three strikes against him. And that meant that he was in for a world of pain once Vector managed to catch up to him.
All at once, the skunk stopped running and whirled around, his sword out as he swung at Vector, his eyes full of disgust for the reptile. Vector's battle axe stopped the blow and he forced the skunk to step back.
"You really are an idiot, aren't you, Vector?" St. John asked him. "You've just blacklisted yourself, you know that, don't you? And for what? A bunch of snot-nosed brats?"
"You don't know nuthin'!" Vector snarled, swinging his axe at St. John's head. The skunk managed to keep one step ahead of him.
"I know about that deal you cut with the bee kid," St. John shot back.
Vector froze in shock. "What?"
Geoffrey smirked, knowing he had the crocodile. "Even you know that if word got out you let yourself get hired by a six-year-old who obviously couldn't pay you, you'd never get hired again. I'm sure that's one nasty rumor you'd rather we kept between the two of us, isn't it?"
Vector blinked at him, his mind churning with what Geoffrey was threatening. He shook his head and tightened his grip on his axe. "Ferget it, St. John. I ain't lettin' you get away with murderin' innocents and kidnappin' children."
"And why not?" Geoffrey all but yelled at him. "What have you got to gain by doing this? Surely you can't possibly believe that there's some King somewhere who deserves your allegiance, or whatever it is those idiot Citizens believe!"
Vector thought back to a small bee with an awesome faith in something he couldn't see, that somehow always seemed to pay off in the end for him in spite of the tragedies he had endured. The crocodile grinned crookedly. "Truthfully? I do, actually."
Geoffrey's jaw dropped open in shock as Vector started to laugh.
"Whadduyah know? I said it. Been wonderin' bout it for a long time now. Ever since an honest little bee gave me back my moneybag without stealin' anything. Ain't too sure who this King guy is yet, but I intend ta find out. Wuz also intending to chop yer fool head off, but I don't think I will anymore." Vector stepped forward and punched the still shocked Geoffrey in the mouth again, knocking him out. "Don't think my new King'd like that, as much as I would."
He whistled to himself as he grabbed Geoffrey's tail and dragged him unceremoniously back to where he had left Knuckles. He found the echidna with Espio, busy tying up the last of Geoffrey's goons.
"Here's another weasel to truss up," he informed the two, tossing Geoffrey at their feet. "Where's Charmy?"
"I took him with me when I left and left him with Big under the impression that he is guarding the other children," Espio explained.
"Huh. Just as well, I guess. Kid didn't need to see this. Well, let's get out of here, ninja-boy, I gotta go get him before he hurts himself."
Espio raised his eyebrow at this, but spoke not a word. Vector didn't really need him too; he was speaking to hear his head rattle, not because he wanted conversation.
"By the way, been wanting to know more about this King of yers. Maybe the three of us could meet up sometime and…"
Knuckles shook his head as he watched Vector purposefully drag Espio away, conveniently plotting a future for all three of the alternate members of the Chaotix, while Espio was trying to politely inform him that he must do the King's bidding, not Vector's.
Knuckles looked over the now-demolished camp. It seemed everything had turned out well in the end.
"Knuckles."
The echidna whirled to see the Spirit sitting on the ground beside him. "Yes?" he asked.
"Well done."
Knuckles smiled. And suddenly his world went black.
